25, May 2022
UN says over 500 Southern Cameroons refugees crossed to Nigeria in April 0
Reports by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) indicate that over 500 Cameroonian women, men, and children have arrived in Nigeria as 0f April 2022.
The report revealed the refugees entered through Nigeria’s borders in Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Benue, Enugu, Cross River, and Taraba states.
Those in Taraba State, Northeast Nigeria, are mainly in Sardauna Local Government Area (LGA).
The UN Refugee Agency said nearly 80 per cent of the refugees are women and children, adding that the new addition brings the total number of Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria to 77,000 as of April 2022, compared to 76,577 refugees registered in March 2022.
According to the agency, the refugees are those who fled their villages due to the ongoing conflict between armed groups and security forces in the English-speaking part of the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon.
Since 2017, conflict in Cameroon has been rooted in the colonisation of Cameroon by both the French and British governments and the two languages that came with it – French and English language.
Since then, the Anglophone Cameroonians have long complained about the almost total domination of public life by the francophone Cameroonians.
This historical marginalisation led to calls for a separatist movement. Currently, the conflict has also led to the death of 4,000 civilians and more than 712,000 internally displaced.
UNHCR steps in
According to the agency, about 19,000 refugees received cash to purchase food of their choice in Nigeria’s Benue and Cross River states.
The agency added that Cameroonian refugees had been moved to new settlements, where they receive food as well as essential items, and also, women and girls are also being provided with sanitary kits, including other items like buckets, soap, and towels.
Humanitarian concerns
According to UNHCR, refugees have reported arbitrary arrests and restrictions of movement by security officials due to expired ID cards.
“The ID card renewal is linked to their temporary protection status (TPS), and UNHCR continues to explore ways to reduce arbitrary arrests through sensitisation and training of security officials,” UNHCR said.
In Akwa Ibom, Benue, Cross River, and Taraba state, UNHCR and a collision of humanitarian actors undertook over 25 visits on advocacy, border, and detention monitoring to the immigration posts, National Drug Law Development Agency, Federal Road Safety Corps, Security and Civil Defence Corps, correctional centres, and the police stations, to promote refugee’s access to justice, freedom of movement, and advocate against the arbitrary arrest and detention of refugees.
Source: Humanglemedia
25, May 2022
Boat carrying Cameroonians has capsized off Tunisia’s coast 0
A boat carrying migrants from Cameroon and some other countries from Libya to Europe has capsized off Tunisia’s coast.
This prompted an ongoing rescue operation Wednesday after one body was recovered and dozens of people were reported missing.
The International Organization for Migration said that 75 people were unaccounted for and 30 others were rescued after the boat sank off Sfax in southern Tunisia.
Mourad Turki, a Sfax courts spokesman, told The Associated Press that those who were rescued were between 18 and 40 years old and of various nationalities, including people from Bangladesh, Egypt, Morocco and Cameroon. Turki added that the initial numbers of those missing were provisional and could increase.
Esma Rihane, a spokesperson for the IOM, said that the Tunisian navy was continuing to comb the area and search for the missing.
The boat reportedly departed from Zuwara in north Libya on Sunday night.
According to the Sfax National Guard, the boat ran aground 10 kilometers (six miles) from the island of Kerkennah, off Tunisia’s coast.
Zuwara serves as a departure point for migrants from Libya attempting to reach the Italian coast by sea.
Last July, a boat carrying 127 migrants from Zuwara sank off Zarzis, a port in southern Tunisia, leaving 43 people missing.
The central Mediterranean, which connects Libya and the Maghreb countries to Italy or Malta, is the most dangerous migration route in the world, according to the IOM.
The U.N. agency estimates that more than 1,500 people died or went missing in the area in 2021 and more than 500 so far in 2022.
Source: pmnews Nigeria